Electricity

Electricity, simply put, is the flow of electric current along a conductor. This electric current
takes the form of free electrons that transfer from one atom to the next. Thus, the more free
electrons a material has, the better it conducts.
There are two different kinds of electricity, static and current.
Static electricity happens when an electrical charge builds up on the surface of an object. Current
electricity is produced by moving electrons.

Methods of generating electricity


Sources of electricity in the U.S. in 2009
[5]
fossil fuel generation (mainly coal) was the largest source.


Sources of electricity in France in 2006;
[6]
nuclear power was the main source.
There are seven fundamental methods of directly transforming other forms of energy into
electrical energy:
Static electricity, from the physical separation and transport of charge (examples: triboelectric
effect and lightning)
Electromagnetic induction, where an electrical generator, dynamo or alternator transforms
kinetic energy (energy of motion) into electricity. This is the most used form for generating
electricity and is based on Faraday's law. It can be experimented by simply rotating a magnet
within closed loops of a conducting material (e.g. copper wire)
Electrochemistry, the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity, as in a battery,
fuel cell or nerve impulse
Photoelectric effect, the transformation of light into electrical energy, as in solar cells
Thermoelectric effect, the direct conversion of temperature differences to electricity, as in
thermocouples, thermopiles, and thermionic converters.
Piezoelectric effect, from the mechanical strain of electrically anisotropic molecules or crystals.
Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) have developed a piezoelectric generator sufficient to operate a liquid crystal display using
thin films of M13 bacteriophage.
[7]

Nuclear transformation, the creation and acceleration of charged particles (examples:
betavoltaics or alpha particle emission)
Static electricity was the first form discovered and investigated, and the electrostatic generator is
still used even in modern devices such as the Van de Graaff generator and MHD generators.
Charge carriers are separated and physically transported to a position of increased electric
potential. Almost all commercial electrical generation is done using electromagnetic induction,
in which mechanical energy forces an electrical generator to rotate. There are many different
methods of developing the mechanical energy, including heat engines, hydro, wind and tidal
power. The direct conversion of nuclear potential energy to electricity by beta decay is used only
on a small scale. In a full-size nuclear power plant, the heat of a nuclear reaction is used to run a
heat engine. This drives a generator, which converts mechanical energy into electricity by
magnetic induction. Most electric generation is driven by heat engines. The combustion of fossil
fuels supplies most of the heat to these engines, with a significant fraction from nuclear fission
and some from renewable sources. The modern steam turbine (invented by Sir Charles Parsons
in 1884) currently generates about 80% of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat
sources.
Turbines


Large dams such as Three Gorges Dam in China can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power; it has
a 22.5 GW capability.
All turbines are driven by a fluid acting as an intermediate energy carrier. Many of the heat
engines just mentioned are turbines. Other types of turbines can be driven by wind or falling
water. Sources include:
Steam - Water is boiled by-
o Nuclear fission
o The burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, or petroleum). In hot gas (gas turbine),
turbines are driven directly by gases produced by the combustion of natural gas or oil.
Combined cycle gas turbine plants are driven by both steam and natural gas. They
generate power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use residual heat to
generate additional electricity from steam. These plants offer efficiencies of up to 60%.
o Renewables. The steam is generated by:
Biomass
Solar thermal energy (the sun as the heat source): solar parabolic troughs and
solar power towers concentrate sunlight to heat a heat transfer fluid, which is
then used to produce steam.
Geothermal power. Either steam under pressure emerges from the ground and
drives a turbine or hot water evaporates a low boiling liquid to create vapour to
drive a turbine.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC): uses the big difference between
cooler deep and warmer surface ocean waters to run a heat engine (usually a
turbine).
Other renewable sources:


Large dams such as Hoover Dam can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power; it has 2.07
GW capability.
o Water (hydroelectric) - Turbine blades are acted upon by flowing water, produced by
hydroelectric dams or tidal forces.
o Wind - Most wind turbines generate electricity from naturally occurring wind. Solar
updraft towers use wind that is artificially produced inside the chimney by heating it
with sunlight, and are more properly seen as forms of solar thermal energy.
Reciprocating engines
Small electricity generators are often powered by reciprocating engines burning diesel, biogas or
natural gas. Diesel engines are often used for back up generation, usually at low voltages.
However most large power grids also use diesel generators, originally provided as emergency
back up for a specific facility such as a hospital, to feed power into the grid during certain
circumstances. Biogas is often combusted where it is produced, such as a landfill or wastewater
treatment plant, with a reciprocating engine or a microturbine, which is a small gas turbine.


A coal-fired power plant in Laughlin, Nevada U.S.A. Owners of this plant ceased operations after
declining to invest in pollution control equipment to comply with pollution regulations.
[8]

Photovoltaic panels
Unlike the solar heat concentrators mentioned above, photovoltaic panels convert sunlight
directly to electricity. Although sunlight is free and abundant, solar electricity is still usually
more expensive to produce than large-scale mechanically generated power due to the cost of the
panels. Low-efficiency silicon solar cells have been decreasing in cost and multijunction cells
with close to 30% conversion efficiency are now commercially available. Over 40% efficiency
has been demonstrated in experimental systems.
[9]
Until recently, photovoltaics were most
commonly used in remote sites where there is no access to a commercial power grid, or as a
supplemental electricity source for individual homes and businesses. Recent advances in
manufacturing efficiency and photovoltaic technology, combined with subsidies driven by
environmental concerns, have dramatically accelerated the deployment of solar panels. Installed
capacity is growing by 40% per year led by increases in Germany, Japan, California and New
Jersey.
Other generation methods


Wind-powered turbines usually provide electrical generation in conjunction with other methods of
producing power.
Various other technologies have been studied and developed for power generation. Solid-state
generation (without moving parts) is of particular interest in portable applications. This area is
largely dominated by thermoelectric (TE) devices, though thermionic (TI) and
thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have been developed as well. Typically, TE devices are used
at lower temperatures than TI and TPV systems. Piezoelectric devices are used for power
generation from mechanical strain, particularly in power harvesting. Betavoltaics are another
type of solid-state power generator which produces electricity from radioactive decay. Fluid-
based magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation has been studied as a method for
extracting electrical power from nuclear reactors and also from more conventional fuel
combustion systems. Osmotic power finally is another possibility at places where salt and fresh
water merges (e.g. deltas, ...) Electrochemical electricity generation is also important in portable
and mobile applications. Currently, most electrochemical power comes from closed
electrochemical cells ("batteries"),
[10]
which are arguably utilized more as storage systems than
generation systems; but open electrochemical systems, known as fuel cells, have been
undergoing a great deal of research and development in the last few years. Fuel cells can be used
to extract power either from natural fuels or from synthesized fuels (mainly electrolytic
hydrogen) and so can be viewed as either generation systems or storage systems depending on
their use.





There are three primary electrical parameters: the volt, the ampere and the ohm.

1. The Volt
The pressure that is put on free electrons that causes them to flow is known as electromotive
force (EMF). The volt is the unit of pressure, i.e., the volt is the amount of electromotive force
required to push a current of one ampere through a conductor with a resistance of one ohm.

2. The Ampere
The ampere defines the flow rate of electric current. For instance, when one coulomb (or 6 x
1018 electrons) flows past a given point on a conductor in one second, it is defined as a current
of one ampere.

3. The Ohm
The ohm is the unit of resistance in a conductor. Three things determine the amount of resistance
in a conductor: its size, its material, e.g., copper or aluminum, and its temperature. A conductors
resistance increases as its length increases or diameter decreases. The more conductive
the materials used, the lower the conductor resistance becomes. Conversely, a rise in temperature
will generally increase resistance in a conductor.

Ohms Law
Ohms Law defines the correlation between electric current (I), voltage (V), and resistance
(R) in a conductor.

Ohms Law can be expressed as: V = I R
Where: V = volts, I = amps, R = ohms

Ampacity
Ampacity is the amount of current a conductor can handle before its temperature exceeds
accepted limits. These limits are given in the National Electrical Code (NEC), the Canadian
Electrical Code and in other engineering documents such as those published by the Insulated
Cable Engineers Association (ICEA). It is important to know that many external factors affect
the ampacity of an electrical conductor and these factors should be taken into
consideration before selecting the conductor size.